The Vancouver Canucks must have felt like they were California Dreaming. They actually beat the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday night.

The Canucks came from behind to defeat the Kings 2-1 at Rogers Arena and keep their extremely slim playoff hopes flickering for at least another day.

Brad Richardson scored the winner, on a set-up from linemate Zack Kassian, at 18:37 of the third period.

After the Dallas Stars beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-2 earlier Saturday, the Canucks needed at least one point to remain mathematically alive in the playoff race.

They at least postponed the inevitable.

“We played, I think, like we did before Christmas,” said captain Henrik Sedin. “We iced a lineup that was healthy, as healthy as it has been this year, and we were able to be aggressive, play the way we know we can. We have been in a lot of tight games this year against these guys and we haven’t won them. But we were able to win tonight so it feels good.”

The win was the first in five meetings against the Kings this season for Vancouver. It was also only Vancouver’s second win all season over the three California teams. The Canucks are now 2-8-3 versus the Kings, Anaheim and San Jose this season.

“Our whole division we haven’t been great against, but especially those California teams we have really struggled,” said Richardson, a former King. “They are a tough teams so it maybe gives us a little bit of a building block going into playing Anaheim.”

The Canucks meet the Ducks on Monday night at Rogers Arena.

The Canucks outshot the Kings 40-26 and had a 20-7 margin in a dominant third period.

“I mean, what do we have to lose, right?” Richardson said of Vancouver’s third-period surge. “Just go have fun and play and what the hell.”

Richardson’s winner came after a sublime set-up from Kassian, who slid him a back-door pass. With Los Angeles goalie Jonathan Quick out of position, he had most of the net to shoot at.